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Table of Contents
Memory Management .............................................................................................................................. 3
Results Enveloping .................................................................................................................................... 5
Set Random Property Colors ..................................................................................................................... 8
Model Box ...............................................................................................................................................11
Extend Merge Mesh ................................................................................................................................13
NonManifold Add....................................................................................................................................16
Element Visual Inspection .......................................................................................................................18
Graphical Output.....................................................................................................................................20
Clipping Plane..........................................................................................................................................22
Equation Based Loading ..........................................................................................................................24
Element Selection by Face ......................................................................................................................28
Reference Groups ...................................................................................................................................32
Layout and View......................................................................................................................................35
Extrude Element Edge .............................................................................................................................39
Assign Shortcut Key to Custom Program ................................................................................................42
Create Elements between Coincident Nodes .........................................................................................46
Temperature Loading Import from Excel ................................................................................................49
Geometry and Mesh Associativity ..........................................................................................................54
Coincident Node Move Only ...................................................................................................................58
Entity ID Contouring for Model Checking ...............................................................................................61
Solid Mesh Internal Beams .....................................................................................................................65
Model Info Tree Shortcuts ......................................................................................................................70
Reverse Entity Visibility ...........................................................................................................................74
Toggle Entity Visibility using the Select Toolbar .....................................................................................78

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Memory Management
How do you overcome performance problems that can arise through memory shortage,
particularly when you are building large models?

When Femap starts to run out of memory it will issue a message urging you to save your model and
to reconfigure to use less memory.

To access Femap’s memory management controls, select File Preferences and the click on the Database tab.
In the Preferences dialog you’ll see a slider in the Database Performance section that controls the
Database Memory Limit.

If you turn this down, Femap’s cache will use less memory and rely more on swapping to the scratch file.
This will decrease the amount of RAM being used and actually make things run faster.

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MEMORY MANAGEMENT DEMONSTRATION

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Results Enveloping
How can you easily envelope results from several load cases into one single output set that contains
a collection of all the highest stresses?

Results enveloping is the fastest and easiest way to scan through large amounts of results data to find
the worst case, and present this information on one single plot. For multiple load cases, Femap can scan
through each and assemble another output set that includes all of the highest stresses for all elements
and nodes. This assembled results case can be viewed just like any other results case.

In a model where you have several different load cases, you can create a worst case output set by
selecting Model | Output | Process in the menu and picking the Envelope tab in the Process
Output Data dialog.

Then you can set the Type of data you want to view, for example Max Value, and click the Select Output
to Process… button. Here you see all of the output sets available so we can select the ones you want
and click OK to continue.

Now you can view the all the highest stresses from all of the load cases in one view by selecting
the Envelope output set.

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You can also view a criteria plot of each load case set ID on the elements, to see which load case
contributes the worst stress, by selecting the Envelope Set Info output set.

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RESULTS ENVELOPING DEMONSTRATION

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Set Random Property Colors
To aid model visualization it is sometimes useful to be able to clearly distinguish the various
properties of the model. How can you assign individual colors for each property randomly in Femap?

First of all, to view the model by property color, we have to switch that on in View | Options , by
selecting 3..Property Colors under Element in the Labels, Entities and Color category.

Then select Apply.

Now in the menus we can select Modify | Color | Property and we get the selection dialog. Alternatively
in the Model Info tree we can expand the Model, right click on Properties and select Color.

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In the Color Palette dialog click the Random… button and the Color Assignment dialog will appear.

At this stage we can assign the colors by ID (including separation of bands of IDs), entity type, or
group to help distinguish model components and help model identification and verification. Click OK
and Femap assigns random colors to all the individual properties.

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RANDOM PROPERTY COLOR DEMONSTRATION

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Model Box
What is the Femap Model Bounding Box, and why is it important?

The Femap Model Bounding Box is a hexahedral cuboid constructed from planes that bound the model
in the x, y, and z axes. The longest diagonal of the model bounding box is used to determine certain
default values in Femap.

For example, the default tolerance used when merging entities is calculated to be bounding box
diagonal divided by by 10,000.

Merge tolerance = Diagonal / 10,000

Also the default maximum deformation is calculated to be the bounding box diagonal multiplied by the
applied scale factor and root 3, to average the edge length of the model bounding box.

Maximum deformation = Scale factor * Diagonal * √3

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MODEL BOUNDING BOX DEMONSTRATION

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Extend Merge Mesh

Sometimes you might be faced with a situation where your model contains surfaces that don’t quite
meet or match up, so how do you go about generating a contiguous mesh quickly, without having to
mess around with the geometry too much? Femap’s Meshing Toolbox can play a role here.

For example, with this model you can see that the two meshed surfaces don’t quite meet up, but we
can use the Meshing Toolbox to extend one of them and ensure that a final contiguous mesh is created.

First of all switch on the Meshing Toolbox by clicking the Meshing icon on the Panes toolbar, and
select the Geometry Editing toolbox.

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In the Geometry Editing toolbox select Extend for Operation, and Solid for Extend To. Then click the
Solid Extend To icon and select the target solid – the lower of the two plates in this example.

Ensure that Auto Remesh is on by selecting the dropdown menu next to the Remesh Tools icon .

Then click the Select icon on the Meshing Toolbox and select the edge to extend – the lower edge
of the upper plate in this example.

In one action Femap extends the upper surface and the associated mesh and joins the surfaces together
to form a continuous mesh across both of them.

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EXTEND MERGE MESH DEMONSTRATION

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NonManifold Add
You may encounter a situation in your model when the geometry appears to connect and meet up, but
is actually discontinuous. Consider this simple model for example, two surfaces that appear to meet and
share a common interface or line. However, when we go to mesh them, the resulting mesh is
discontinuous and there are free edges still at the interface of the surfaces.

However, we can fix that in Femap with the NonManifold Add command, which is located in the
Geometry | Surface | NonManifold Add menu. When we select this the entity selection dialog appears
and we can pick both of the surfaces.

Femap then connects the two surfaces together so that if we go back and remesh them, this time you
see that a continuous mesh is created.

NonManifold Add can be used to connect up two or more surfaces that share a common interface.

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NONMANIFOLD ADD DEMONSTRATION

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Element Visual Inspection
When Femap finishes meshing a model a brief report of the mesh quality is written to the Messages
pane. However, often it’s desirable to visually inspect the worst
elements of the mesh, and review their shape, and location in
the model, an action which is not necessarily that easy to do
with a solid model?

However, in Femap’s interactive Meshing Toolbox there is a

locator function, which can be used to locate problematic
geometry entities – curves and surfaces – as well as elements.
To switch on the Locator, first activate the Meshing Toolbox by

clicking the Meshing icon in the Panes toolbar, and click on

the Toggle Entity Locator icon on the Meshing Toolbox.

Select Elements as the Search For criteria and Quality as the
Search Method, and you will see all of the elements that fail the selected quality type and value.

Here Femap displays the transparent model, with the elements that failed the quality criterion
highlighted.

Zooming up allows you to get a good view of the failed elements, and you can then make a decision
based on the element shape and its location in the model whether or not it’s necessary to improve the
mesh. If it is, then it’s easy to go back and use Femap’s Meshing toolbox to interactively change some of
the meshing parameters in this area and improve the mesh.

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ELEMENT VISUAL INSPECTION DEMONSTRATION

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Graphical Output
In Femap you can generate a picture of the graphics screen at a resolution that is higher than the actual
screen resolution, which means that you can create images with a greatly improved picture quality. You
can have Femap automatically query your printer to establish the maximum allowable image resolution
or specify the desired resolution or scale factor with which to copy or save the image. The image size
can be determined by specifying a scale factor, or you can explicitly define the image pixel dimensions.
You can also control other factors such as pen width and logo and background scaling.

Control of graphical output can be found in File | Preferences menu, then select Views in the
Preferences dialog.

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HIGH-RESOLUTION IMAGE CREATION DEMONSTRATION

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Clipping Plane
The model clipping plane is an invaluable visualization tool that allows you to slice through the FEA
or geometry model and view the interior with part of the model removed.

To switch the Clipping Plane on, open the dropdown menu from the View Style icon on the View
toolbar, then open the Clipping Plane dropdown, and select the Clipping On icon. On this
dropdown you’ll also see controls for plane positioning and viewing side toggling.

With the model clipping switched on, it can be dynamically controlled using the Alt key and the middle
mouse button enabling you to interactively slide the plane through the model. The Model Clipping
Plane uses OpenGL, so for solid models you’ll only see the model surface outline. You can also easily
switch sides for visibility or define the plane orientation.

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MODEL CLIPPING PLANE DEMONSTRATION

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Equation Based Loading
To demonstrate the creation of equation based loading we’ll use a water tank quarter model. Prior
to load application a local coordinate system positioned at the expected water level has already been
defined and the wall surfaces have been split at the corresponding level to allow a group of wetted
surfaces to be created.

Water level

The hydrostatic pressure (P) is a function of the fluid density ( ), acceleration due to gravity (g), and fluid
depth (h).

For water, and using the mm/tonnes/s consistent set of units in this model, this simplifies to:

Note that “!z” is the Femap variable that represents the depth of water in the equation.

Create a new load definition by opening the Model section in the Model Info tree and right
clicking Loads. Select New and enter a Title in the New Load Set dialog, then click OK.

Expand the Loads section of the Model Info tree and right click Load Definitions and select On Surface.
You should now select the surfaces that represent the wetted area of the model in the Entity Selection
dialog.

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In the Create Loads on Surfaces dialog, select Pressure as the load type. In the Load section of the form,
enter 1. as the Pressure. In the Coord Sys box, select the local coordinate system that is positioned at the
water level (this needs to have been defined previously). In the Method section of the form, select
Variable, then click the Advanced button.

In the Advanced Load Methods dialog select Equation and enter the equation 9.79e-6*!z in the Equation
box. Click OK and OK again.

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The surface load markers are now visible, but to see the actual element loads that have been created
select Model | Load | Expand in the menu.

In the Expand Geometry Loads dialog, click the Convert to Node/Elem checkbox and click OK, then Yes
in the confirmation dialog. The elemental loads are then displayed.

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EQUATION BASED LOADING DEMONSTRATION

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Element Selection by Face
Sometimes in the absence of any underlying geometry, finite element selection can become challenging.

Femap includes many capabilities that can aid element selection, and in this example we’ll see how
to create a group by selecting a number of elements that have adjacent faces.

When selecting the elements in the Entity Selection dialog, click on the Pick ^ button, and select By
Faces... and a second Entity Selection dialog appears.

Here you need to select the general group of elements that includes the subset of elements
you eventually want to end up with. In this case we can Select All and click OK.

In the subsequent Face Selection dialog, select the Adjacent Faces radio button, and pick one of the
element faces in the model, then click OK.

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Now back in the first Entity Selection dialog, we can highlight the selected elements using the
Highlight icon button.

In this example all of the elements of the top face have been selected up to a corner in the model, and
we actually want to select all of the top surfaces. So we can Cancel out of the operation and repeat the
above steps to get back to the Face Selection dialog.

The Face Selection dialog contains an angle tolerance that controls what Femap considers to be the
adjacent element plane from element to element. The default is 20.0 degrees, and by increasing this
tolerance we allow Femap to include elements around less acute angles in the model. A setting of
80.0 should suffice for this example.

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Click OK and Highlight the selection once again in the first Entity Selection dialog, and now we see
that all of the desired elements have been captured in the selection.

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ELEMENT SELECTION BY ADJACENT FACE DEMONSTRATION

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Reference Groups
One method of organizing and arranging groups to help display the desired entities in a model is the
Reference Groups capability. Using Reference Groups you can manipulate existing groups and essentially
define groups of groups.

As an example, this fuselage model has a number of groups that divide the model into its general
components already set up. So, suppose we wanted to view all of the elements that make up the
fuselage skin, we can essentially add all the necessary groups as reference groups to the Skin
group, making it easy to select but without changing the group definitions.

You can access Reference Groups by right‐clicking on a group name and selecting Reference Groups in
the drop down menu.

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The desired groups can then be selected in the Referenced Groups dialog.

This results in the selected collection of groups that display the desired elements, for the fuselage skin
in this example.

Note also that the group icon also changes to indicate that there are referenced child groups.

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REFERENCE GROUPS DEMONSTRATION

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Layout and View
Once you have the Femap user interface set the way you like it, with the desired arrangement of
windows, panes and view attributes, you can save both the layout and the view so that you can
easily reset them should the need arise.

You can save the user interface layout by selecting File | Preferences in the menu, and then selecting the
User Interface tab. In the Toolbars section of the Preferences dialog, click the Save Layout button and
browse to the directory where you wish to save the layout file, and enter the desired filename.

To retrieve a previously saved layout, click the Load Layout button and browse to the file location.

The model view with its attributes such as model orientation, contour type, background color etc. can
also be saved. Views are saved in the View Library under the view name. To save a view, first rename

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the view – the default view name is “untitled”. Select View | Create/Manage… in the menu. In the
View Manager dialog click the Update Title button, and enter a view name in the resulting Update Title
dialog. Now select View | Visibility in the menu to open the View Visibility dialog. In the Entity / Label
tab you can save the renamed view by clicking the Save View… button. There is also a Load View…
button to retrieve or change to another view.

It’s possible to set up different views for different purposes, for example you can create a view with a
white background for printing purposes. Saving and loading views in this way is a quick and easy way
to swap between different views with differing view attributes.

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LAYOUT AND VIEW DEMONSTRATION

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Extrude Element Edge

In Femap it’s possible to extrude element edges to create new shell elements. This is useful when there
is no geometry or other edge surfaces available. Let’s see how you can do this.

To extrude element edges select Mesh | Extrude | Element Face… in the menu, and click the Multiple
button in the Select Element Faces dialog. In this example we’re going to select all of the elements of
a plate, as it’s the plate edges that are to be extruded. In the Face Selection dialogue, select Adjacent
Faces, increase the tolerance to be greater than the corner angles of the perimeter – in this case
anything greater than 90 degrees. Then select one of the edges.

Click OK and you should see the Select Element Faces dialog with the list of edges to extrude.

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Next, define the method and direction of extrusion, distance to extrude, and the number of elements
to cover that distance.

Finally, you can see the new wall elements extruded from the original element edges in one
single command.

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EXTRUDE ELEMENT EDGE DEMONSTRATION

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Assign Shortcut Key to Custom Program

In Femap it’s possible to assign a shortcut key to a particular command, which makes it very convenient
to repeat the command particularly when you are performing a series of actions where the command
is used over and over again. However, you can go even further than this, and assign a shortcut key to a
custom program, allowing the key to potentially perform repeated sequences of commands. Let’s see
how to set this up.

First of all let’s select a custom program file to assign as a shortcut. If you click the Custom Tools icon,
you’ll see a list of all of the custom programs that are delivered with Femap. In the View section, you’ll
see one entitled Snap to Closest Orthogonal View. When you execute this program, the Femap view will
shift to the closes orthogonal view, which is very helpful when you require exact views of the model to
be activated easily.

To assign this program to a shortcut key, right click in the toolbars area of the Femap screen, and scroll
down to select Customize….

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In the resulting Customize dialog, select the User Commands tab, and click the … icon next to the
Program field. In the Command Name field, enter a suitable name for the command to be selected.

You’ll then be prompted to navigate to a program file in the Open dialog. All of the program files that
are delivered with Femap are added to the api directory below the Femap install directory. In this
case we wish to select the program Snap to Closest Orthogonal View.BAS in he Views directory. For
the default Femap installation location, the pathname is:

C:\FEMAPv1031\api\Views\ Snap to Closest Orthogonal View.BAS

Select the program and click Open.

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Now click Add then Close to finish the program file selection. The next step is to assign the program to a
shortcut key. Go back and right click in the toolbars area of the Femap screen, scroll down and click
Customize… as before. This time pick the Keyboard tab of the Customize dialog. Under Press a New
Shortcut Key, enter an unassigned shortcut key, Alt+F6 for example, and then click Assign.

The shortcut key should then appear up in the Key assignments box. Click Close to complete the key
assignment. Now when you enter the shortcut key, the custom program will be executed. In this
example, the view will shift to the closest orthogonal view.

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CUSTOM PROGRAM SHORTCUT KEY DEMONSTRATION

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Create Elements between Coincident Nodes

The task of creating elements such as springs or gaps between coincident node points can present some
challenges. For example, how do you pick the coincident node points individually? Femap offers a
couple of solutions to help you create elements like these more easily.

To enable you to choose between coincident nodes, in a model that contains coincident nodes, click
the right mouse button in the graphics area and select Pick Query.

So when you pick coincident nodes, the Select dialog appears allowing you to choose which one to pick.

Alternatively, you can use a shortcut key to make use of the Pick Query command on the fly. Right click
in the graphics are and select Pick Normal to reset the picking method.

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Enter the Control-E shortcut key to bring up the Define element dialog, click on the Type… button
and select Spring/Damper as the element type to define a spring element (like CBUSH). Now pick as
set of coincident nodes, and the first node will be populated in the dialog. Now hold down the Alt
key and clicking on the coincident nodes a second time, the Select dialog appear, allowing us to
choose the second coincident node.

However, you have many elements to create between coincident nodes, so you can use a
more automated approach and create them all in one single command.
Select the menu command Mesh / Connect / Coincident Link. Select all the nodes to be
considered, enter a value for the Coincident Tolerance, or leave the default value and click OK.

Complete the definition for the connecting element properties in the Generate Connection
Options dialog, and click OK to create all of the connecting elements at once.

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CREATING ELEMENTS BETWEEN COINCIDENT NODES DEMONSTRATION

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Temperature Loading Import from Excel
Sometimes element or nodal temperature distributions that are created by thermal solvers are only
available in the form of a spreadsheet. We would like to take these values and turn them into a load
case for subsequent analysis, so let’s see how to do this in Femap.

The demonstration model for this is a very simple strip of ten quad elements, and we also have a
temperature distribution in the form of a spreadsheet, which has actually been saved in a comma
delimited format.

These temperatures can be imported into Femap in the form of a results vector.

In the menu select File / Import / Analysis Results… and in the resulting Import Results From dialog,
select Comma-Separated.

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Click OK and browse to select the spreadsheet csv file that contains the temperature distribution data.

In the Read Comma-Separated Table dialog ensure that the format settings match the spreadsheet
layout. For this example we are reading in nodal data, and we’ll create a new output set with an ID of
9000000. Click OK.

We can check the temperature values by plotting them out as if they were results vector values.

Click the Post Data icon on the Post toolbar then select the vector 9000000. Temperature (deg C)
in the Output Set Contour box.

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The next step is to convert this results vector into a load case.

In the menu, select Model / Load / From Output… and enter a title in the following dialog, and click OK.

As this is nodal temperature data, in the Select Type of Load dialog, select Temperatures in the Nodal
Loads column and click OK.

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In the subsequent Create Loads From Output dialog, pick up the temperature vector in the X Vector
box, and click OK.

The temperature load definition has now been created.

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TEMPERATURE LOADING IMPORT FROM EXCEL

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Geometry and Mesh Associativity
With Femap you can import CAD and FEA models from a wide variety of sources.

To import a CAD model select the File / Import / Geometry… menu option and browse and select the
CAD file you wish to import. Femap then provides the option to specify a geometry scale factor if
desired, select OK.

To import an FEA model select the File / Import / Analysis Model… menu option, select the Analysis
Format in the Import Form and click OK. Now browse to and select the corresponding FEA model for the
CAD geometry imported earlier.

The CAD and FEA models should now be superimposed. However, the independent import paths will
break any associativity there may have been between the model types previously. Lack of associativity
limits some modeling capabilities, particularly if you wish to take advantage of geometry entities to
create corresponding FEA entities such as loads or constraints. You can see this if you create a geometry
constraint and try to expand it to the FEA entities.

In the menu select Model / Constraint / On Surface… and click OK. Select a surface to constrain in
the Entity Selector dialog, and click OK, and OK again to create fixed constraints, then Cancel.

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Select the menu option Model / Constraint / Expand… and click OK.

The command fails to execute successfully and a warning message is issued in the Messages pane.

However, in Femap you can re-associate corresponding CAD and FEA modeling data, for both solid and
shell type models, and overcome these problems.

Select the menu option Modify / Associativity / Automatic…, Select All elements and click OK, then
Select All solids and click OK, and OK again in the Automatic Geometry Associativity dialog.

The geometry and FEA models have now been re-associated. This can be verified by expanding the
geometry constraint as before.

Select the menu option Model / Constraint / Expand… and click OK.

Now the constraints have been expanded to the associated FEA entities.

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So from just about any source, corresponding CAD and FEA models can be imported into Femap and
associativity between them restored.

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GEOMETRY AND MESH ASSOCIATIVITY DEMONSTRATION

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Coincident Node Move Only
Sometimes you may need to set up a model to have a set of coincident nodes which can be connected
together using spring or gap elements. To help prepare such a model, Femap includes a method of
moving nodes to be coincident within a tolerance.

This is the Move Only, No Merge option which can be found in the Check/Merge Coincident Node
dialog.

In the menu, select Tools / Check / Coincident Nodes and select the nodes to check in the Entity
Selection dialog box.

The Move Only, No Merge option will move nodes found to be within the coincident node tolerance. In
the Check/Merge Coincident dialog, enter a suitable number for the Tolerance.

Click on the Move To button to control how the nodes move - higher ID to lower, lower ID to higher, or
both to the midpoint of the distance between them.

Then select the Action button and set that to Move Only, No Merge.

You can check to see which nodes have been selected for the move operation by clicking the Preview
button.

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Click Done and OK to execute the move operation.

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COINCIDENT NODE MOVE ONLY DEMONSTRATION

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Entity ID Contouring for Model Checking
Femap has a lot of visualization tools that can be used to verify the model. For example it’s possible
to assign colors to entity IDs allowing a quick visual check of the numbering scheme of the model. The
model used in this example has the nodes and elements numbered according to each frame, and
we’ll see a couple of ways we can verify the ID numbering by assigning colors.

First we’ll make sure we are coloring with element colors and then we’ll apply random colors to bands of
element IDs.

Select the down arrow of the View Style icon , and select Color With and Element Colors.

Select Modify / Color / Element… menu option, Select All the elements and click OK.

In the Color Palette dialog select the Random button.

In the Color Assignment dialog, select Multiple Colors by ID, and enter 100000 (for the example used)
in the Color Match in Range box, and click OK

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Femap can also create contour, criteria, and beam diagram plots based on entity IDs as well as
materials and properties.

Select View / Advanced Post / Contour Model Data… in the menu. In the Contour Model Data dialog,
check the Show Model Data Contour checkbox, Expand the Entity ID part of the tree, and select
Element. Finally, in the Show As area of the dialog box, select Criteria and click OK

Depending on the model, a clearer criteria plot can be obtained by switching off element edges.

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Select the down arrow of the View Style icon , and click on Filled Edges to switch them off.

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ENTITY ID CONTOURING DEMONSTRATION

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Solid Mesh Internal Beams
Structures like reinforced concrete where steel rebar in encased in solid concrete can be represented
by 1-D rod or beam elements for the rebar inside solid 3-D tet-elements for the concrete. When setting
up such a model you have to take care to ensure that the mesh is contiguous and that the 1-D elements
connect with the 3-D elements correctly.

For clarity, we’ll demonstrate how this may be set up in Femap using a simple model of a solid block that
will represent the concrete that contains three internal curves that will represent the rebar.

First, we need to create Mesh Points on the surfaces where the internal curves connect to ensure that
the surface mesh will create nodes at the internal curve positions.

Select Mesh / Mesh Control / Mesh Points on Surface… and pick the first surface to which the internal
curves connect. Select Use Existing Points and click OK, then pick all of the curve end points on the
selected surface and click OK. Now repeat for any other surfaces that connect with curve end points.

Now we can mesh the internal curves to create rod elements in this case, as they will adequately
represent the tension / compression properties of the rebar.

Select the Mesh Curve icon , and select all internal curves. Enter an appropriate property type
and click OK.

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The next step is to mesh the bounding surfaces. Select the Tet Mesh Solid icon , and pick all
the bounding surfaces and click OK to close the Entity Selection dialog. In the Automesh Solids dialog
activate the Surface Mesh Only checkbox.

Ensure that an appropriate property is entered and click OK.

To verify that the meshing points have been picked up correctly select the Wireframe icon in the
dropdown menu of the View Style icon in the View toolbar.

Click the Undo icon to revert to the previous view style.

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Now with the curves and surfaces meshed in separate commands there will be coincident nodes at the
mesh points that will have to be removed. Select Tools / Check / Coincident Nodes… and Click the
Select All and OK buttons. Clicking the Preview button at this point will show all of the coincident nodes
found. Click OK to complete the command.

Now we can create the solid internal mesh. Select Mesh / Geometry / Solid from Elements… and click
Select All and OK. In the Automesh Solids dialog click Options then in the Solid Meshing Options dialog
verify that Delete Surface Elements is checked.

Click OK and OK again to complete the mesh. If a warning message appears requesting to proceed
with the mesh, click Yes.

Verifying the interior of a solid model visually can be challenging, but in Femap we can use the
grouping function to create a subset of the model that can be blanked off. In this case, we’ll put the
corner elements of the block into a group such that when they are blanked off one of the interior lines
of rod elements will be revealed.

Select the Solid icon in the dropdown menu of the View Style icon in the View toolbar. Now we
orient the model such that a selection of elements can be made that can reveal a line of the internal
rod elements. Select Group Create/Manage… to activate the Group Manager dialog, click New Group…
and enter a Title then click OK and Done. Selecting Group / Element / ID… will allow a group of
elements to be selected and added into the new group. In the Model Info tree expand the Groups
entity, right click on the new group that’s just been created and select Show Active Group.

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It can be seen that a contiguous mesh has been created correctly linking the internal rod elements.

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SOLID MESH WITH BEAM ELEMENTS DEMONSTRATION

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Model Info Tree Shortcuts
Long lists of entities like Materials or Properties are easier to navigate using the Model Info entity
scrolling capability. You can set the maximum number of entities to display in File / Preferences; in the
Model Info section of the User Interface tab you can specify Max Entities.

In the Model Info tree, if the number of entities of a particular type exceeds the Max Entities value, then
Previous and Next entries will appear at the top and bottom of that branch of the tree.

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You can Click on Next or Previous to scroll through the list of entities like properties or materials. You
can also use Control and Shift with the middle mouse wheel to move to the next defined selection or
visible selection, and Control and Shift together to move right to the bottom or top of the list.

Also in the Model Info tree you can quickly set up load and constraint sets using the Copy To Set
and Move To Set commands which can be accessed by right-clicking on Load Definitions.

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MODEL INFO TREE SHORTCUTS DEMONSTRATION

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Reverse Entity Visibility
Quite often it’s handy when you’ve set the visibility of a number of entities to be able to quickly
reverse the display of the entities that are shown and hidden without necessarily changing the
display setup. In Femap you can reverse the displayed and hidden entities in a single mouse click,
and then switch them back again.

In a model that contains various properties, you can opt to show some properties and hide
others. For example in the fuselage model below, some properties have been selected in the
Model Info tree.

Select the View Visibility icon and in the Geometry, Coord Sys, Material and Property tabs you’ll
see a Reverse button in the dialog box.

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Clicking the Reverse button will reverse the entities that are hidden and displayed.

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In the Model Info tree you can right click in the visibility checkbox area to get the context-
sensitive sub-menu with a Show/Hide Reverse option.

Also, with the Entity Selector activated, for Properties in this example, you can right click in the
graphics area to activate the context-sensitive Visibility sub-menu.

So in Femap it’s very easy to toggle displayed and hidden entities without affecting the display
setup.

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REVERSE ENTITY VISIBILITY DEMONSTRATION

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Toggle Entity Visibility using the Select Toolbar
For large models with tens, hundreds or even thousands of solids, materials and or properties,
the selection of a subset of those entities for display is made easy using the Select toolbar.

The Selector Entity pulldown menu sets the entity type you want to control visibility of.

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Once you select the entity type you want to toggle the display of, the Selector Mode menu allows you to
Add To Selection or Remove From Selection. Selection modes that can be set in the Femap Graphics
pane such as pick Front, Select All Inside, Show Tooltips and show Layers/Groups in Tooltips are
accessible from this pull‐down menu.

You can also switch from Select Single Item (Femap’s default) to Select Multiple. When you enable
Select Related, any entity related to a selected entity is automatically included in the Selection List
and the option for Select Multiple is automatically enabled.

The Selector Actions pulldown menu gives access to selection methods accessible normally through a
selection dialog box when the Select Multiple option is enabled as the Selector Mode.

When the Selector Mode is set to Select Single, only the Load Group option is available before an entity
is selected.

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When the Selector Mode is set to Select Multiple, selected entities are maintained in the Model Info
pane’s Selection List object tree until the selection list is cleared.

Once you select an entity or entities, the right‐click action in the Model Info pane opens a context‐
sensitive menu for the entity type set with the Selector Entity menu. The Visibility menu allows has the
same options for toggling visibility as the Visibility Toggle check boxes in the Model Info pane.

Once you have the entity or entities selected and visibility set for these entities, simply click the Selector
Entity icon and the selector is toggled off.

For more details on the Select toolbar, see Section 7.3.1.6 of the Femap Commands manual.

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ENTITY VISIBILITY USING THE SELECT TOOLBAR DEMONSTRATION

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 More Great Femap Content

Structural Design and Analysis webinars provide in-depth explanations and demonstrations of Femap
capabilities. This free PDF provides you a link to all the past webinars.

You can also see the webinars in an interactive format at http://structures.aero/webinars.

[Get the PDF]

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